Free · An interactive map
The Map of Legal Ideas
Law is not a list of rules. It is a web of ideas that lean on each other: you cannot understand expectation damages without material breach, or material breach without offer and acceptance. This map shows that web. Every dot is a legal term, joined to the terms our dictionary links it to, and coloured by the area of law it belongs to. Click a term and the map shows what we have on it: articles, course lessons and case briefs.
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Drag to move, scroll or + / − to zoom, click a dot to read the term. Solid lines: linked in our dictionary. Dashed: similar wording.
How are two ideas connected?
Things to try
- Search consideration and follow its links outwards: what does it depend on, and what depends on it?
- Ask how offer connects to expectation damages, and read each step on the way.
- Click an area of law in the colour list to see where it sits among the others, and which areas overlap.
- Zoom in to read every term. Click one to read it, open its dictionary entry, and see our articles, lessons and case briefs about it.
How to read it
Solid lines are links we wrote ourselves: the “see also” connections in the Legal Dictionary. Dashed lines are suggestions found by comparing the wording of two definitions; they point to terms that talk about similar things, and they are hints, not statements of law. Where the map is crowded, it shows how much the law lets ideas overlap.
The map runs in your browser, and nothing you do on it is sent anywhere.
Educational tool. The definitions explain general legal terminology and are not legal advice; exact meanings and requirements vary by jurisdiction.